By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, March 2: The Chinese government has yet again pledged to increase its financial assistance to Nepal, a move apparently seen to further strengthen its growing influence in the impoverished Himalayan country.
In a latest announcement, China has agreed to provide loan and grant assistance worth over NRs 7.54 billion (RMB 690 million) to Nepal for “execution of different infrastructure projects”.
The new pledge by the Chinese government comes in the wake of recent announcement by US government to provide major aid package to the crisis-stricken country to improve its security capability.
At the end of a four-day visit to Nepal, visiting vice minister of commerce of China Mr Fu Ziying on Monday signed a series of agreements with Rameshore Prasad Khanal, secretary of Nepal’s Ministry of Finance, in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.
According to the agreements, China through the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM Bank) has agreed to provide a loan assistance of RMB 640 million (about 7 billion Nepalese Rupees) for the construction of Upper Trisuli 3A Hydropower Project of Nepal, China’s state-owned news agency Xinhua said.
The project capacity of 60 MW is expected to help reduce “power deficit from the present power crisis across the country” and the construction work is expected to be completed within four years, Nepalese media reports cited a press release issued by the Ministry of Finance of Nepal as saying.
The Chinese government has also agreed to provide an additional RMB 50 million (some Rs. 547 million) assistance to the government of Nepal to “promote the economic and technical cooperation between the two countries”.
The financial assistance, according to the press release of Nepal government, is to be used for the “implementation of mutually agreed projects”.
Similarly, China has also agreed to provide the grant assistance for upgrading Kathmandu Ring Road (first phase) on Monday.
The Chinese delegation, led by Fu, was in Nepal from Feb. 26 to March 1. Media reports said the visiting delegation toured several China-aided projects in Nepal during the visit.
The delegation also met with Nepalese Prime Minister Mr Jhalanath Khanal on Monday evening.
According to the prime minister’s foreign relation advisor Milan Raj Tuladhar, China has pledged to consider providing assistance in education, health, drinking water and other social sectors in Nepal.
“The Chinese internal tourists visiting Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) has reached 3.5 million per year. We will be encouraging them to visit Nepal,” Tuladhar was quoted Fu as saying by media reports.
About 10 percent of them are expected to visit Nepal in near future, according to the reports.
The prime minister reportedly thanked the Chinese governments for the latest assistance and in return “re-affirmed Nepal’s long-standing one-China policy”.
For an estimated 20,000 Tibetan exiles living in Nepal, the latest development is a worrying trend that could further limit their restricted freedoms ahead of the 2011 Tibetan General Elections to be held later this month.
Nepal government has lately vowed to check “anti-China activities” to strengthen friendly ties with China, a major donor for the impoverished country.
Nepal, which has accommodated Tibetan exiles for decades, has come under increasing pressure from China to crack down on the political protests in recent years.
Under Beijing’s influence and lack of stable government in the impoverished nation, rights groups say Tibetans refugees in Nepal are increasingly vulnerable and at risk of arrest and repatriation.
In October last year, Nepal police forcibly disrupted Tibetan elections by seizing several ballot boxes from at least two polling stations set up in the capital Kathmandu.
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